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MPFitzpatrick — Hope
Published: 2004-10-30 18:14:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 1593; Favourites: 42; Downloads: 227
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Description
9x12 Watercolor and colored pencil. Salt too.I was experimenting with mixing watercolor colors so that when they dry(with salt), the particles in the mixture separate into interesting patterns and colors.
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Comments: 29
I am in love!! Your work (all of it) is absolutely captivating! This piece in particular strikes my eye. Do you have your own web-site??
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This is a gorgeous piece. And salt - I haven't tried that technique in years!
My mother was also a big fan of using salt in her watercolors. When we lived in Barrow, Alaska in 1988 a small pod of California grey whales got trapped in the ice, and it took an international team of rescuers 3 weeks to get them back out to sea. My mother went out there with her sketch pad and watercolor pencils nearly every day and sat by the ice holes sketching pictures of them. At one point she was actually able to reach out and gently touch the baby whale on its poor battered nose, and almost immediately the mother whale spy hopped out of the hole and sprayed sea water all over mom and her sketchbook. The salt water froze and crystallized on the paper, and made for an amazing effect. Mom laughed it off and said she got the mother whale's "autograph". She doesn't have that pic now - a reporter from the BBC that was on site at the time had seen the whole thing and bought it from her on the spot as a souvenir - but she became a die-hard fan of using sea salt in her watercolors from that point on. I think she'd say you've most certainly put the technique to wonderful use here.
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That is the greatest story ever!! What a wonderful experience she had. Wow.
The closest experience I have is when my cats sneezed and drooled on a picture. It's not quite the same thing.
Heh. This was the first time I actually used sea salt. I'd been using table salt and couldn't understand the fuss over it. Then someone pointed out that sea salt works better. Silly me.
Michelle
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And I agree that sea salt works much better, likely because it's much more coarse. It make some of the prettiest snowflake patterns!
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Wow, beautiful! I love the colours and patterns created in the background. Some amazing detail in the hair and clothing. The nose is skillfully painted; they're such awkward things to draw. 
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Oh wow, beautiful. The colour combination is just gorgeous
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This is really beautiful! Aren't watercolors fun to experiment with?
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Very nice! I really like the details in the bodice of her dress
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**JAWDROPS**
That is so lovely! I LOVE the corset 
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this is gorgeous! the colors are so soft, and i love the designs on her dress!
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Lovely, especially the hair and the background. Nice effect.
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wow, this is amazing! and the title is really acurate... you feel hope when you see this pic, and her smile... i love the experiment, the background came out amzing!!
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Wow, that's lovely.
Have you tried playing with rubbing alcohol in your watercolors? You use an eyedropper and drip the alcohol into your wash, and it spreads out and makes marvelous ring effects. ^_^
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No, I haven't tried it. I'd heard about it, but completely forgotten. Thanks! I'll definitely have to give it a try. I'm still pretty new to watercolors, and haven't had a chance to play with a whole lot of the "tricks" and "special effects". They're SO much fun, though.
Michelle
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Aren't they? ^o^ Hope to see your experiments up soon!
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the water colour idea is amazing, where di you learn that? because it is usch a simple thing to add salt well, mayb not to simple, have to make sure not to much I guess? but still gives an amaginf effect, to add the elf herself is beautiful I love the detail specialy in the corset and hair. Again youhave amaed me, such a beautiful peice of work ^-^ well done, well worth a
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hehehe well when I like someones art I do often stalk them and you have alot of beautiful works So probably will be a regualr for aslong as you post ^-^
the salt thing souds cool, past down through generations and made it's way to you ^-^
well done again
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I'd heard a looong time ago about the salt. Not sure where, but a lot of fantasy watercolorists use it. Another Deviant, Spookydarling, mentioned to me that seasalt works better than tablesalt, and it made a HUGE difference!!
Thanks for the comment. You're getting to be a regular here.
Michelle
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I would definitely say that your experiment was successful. Good job!!
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I love you epically, you know this.
She is GORGEOUS, and I absolutely love the effect. I always wondered how that kind of watercolor "texture" was done.... I need to try that out sometime. You know, when I can finally stop playing with CG-coloring programs.
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Make sure to use seasalt. It works better.
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i loves the celtic hearts on her dress and her ears.
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